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Parashat Mishpatim “Torah Study and Torah Reading on Shabbat” by David Silverberg

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Parashat Mishpatim “Torah Study and Torah Reading on Shabbat” by David Silverberg Parashat Mishpatim “Torah Study and Torah Reading on Shabbat” by David Silverberg Parashat Vayakhel begins with Moshe's assembly of the entire Israelite people to reiterate to them the mitzva of Shabbat observance and present the guidelines concerning the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Several Midrashic sources noted that no other section in the Torah begins with this description of "va-yakhel" – an assembly of the entire nation. The reason for this gathering, the Midrashim explain, relates to the first set of instructions Moshe presents at this gathering – instructions regarding Shabbat: The Almighty said [to Moshe]: Go arrange large gatherings and publicly teach them the laws of Shabbat, so that future generations will learn from you, to assemble gatherings each and every Shabbat and to gather in Houses of Study to teach and instruct Israel words of Torah and matters of prohibition and permission… (Midrash Avkir, cited in Torah Sheleima) The special "gathering" held at the opening of Parashat Vayakhel was intended to demonstrate the proper procedure for Shabbat observance. The rabbinic leader or leaders must assemble the community for the purpose of teaching and instructing them Torah law, much as Moshe here gathers the Israelite nation to command them with regard to the laws of Shabbat and the Mishkan. Rabbi Chayim Ben Atar, in his classic commentary, "Or Ha-chayim," suggests that in this vein the Midrash interprets the entire first verse of Parashat Vayakhel: "Moshe assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do." According to the Midrash, the Or Ha-chayim claims, "these are the things" refers to the assembly itself. Moshe here tells the people that Shabbat must be a day of public Torah study and instruction, following the model that he himself establishes in this setting. Maimonides, in his Code (Hilkhot Shabbat 30:10), makes brief reference to the obligation of Torah study on Shabbat, forbidding one from eating and drinking during the communal study session, and then outlining the Shabbat schedule of the tzadikim ha-rishonim – the righteous men of yesteryear: It is forbidden for a person to conduct a meal over wine at the time when [people assemble in] the study hall. Rather, this was the practice of the tzadikim ha- rishonim : One would pray on Shabbat the morning and musaf services in the synagogue, come to his home and eat the second meal [of Shabbat], go to the study hall and read and study until the afternoon service, recite the afternoon service, and then conduct the third meal. Following the principle established in the Midrash, Maimonides requires communities to hold public gatherings for Torah study, and he forbids individuals from engaging in physical indulgence at the expense of participation in these sessions. Another Midrashic source, the Midrash Ha-gadol, appears to include "keri'at ha-Torah" – the public Torah reading, in addition to study – under this obligation: This is what the Almighty said to Moshe: Assemble My children for [the purpose of presenting to them] the commandment of Shabbat, in order that it be preserved for generations to form gatherings and enter synagogues and study halls to hear words of Torah… The Almighty said to Israel: If you assemble on each and every 1 Shabbat and read the Torah, I consider you as having testified to My being your King… Thus, the opening verse of Parashat Vayakhel introduces – or at least alludes to – the requirement of Torah study and reading on Shabbat, emphasizing the public nature of this requirement. This week we will examine the underlying nature and purpose of this obligation as codified and addressed in Maimonides' writings. (Much of our discussion is based on a transcript of a lecture delivered by the 20 th -century luminary Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, which appeared in the 5752 edition of Yeshiva University's annual journal, Beit Yitzchak .) The Dual Obligation of Torah Reading on Shabbat In codifying the obligation to read from the Torah on Shabbat, Maimonides refers to this requirement in two consecutive paragraphs, each seemingly reflecting a different perspective on its essential nature. In Hilkhot Tefila (12:1), he writes, based on a passage in the Talmud (Bava Kama 82a), "Moshe instituted for Israel that they should publicly read from the Torah on Shabbat, Monday and Thursday, in order that they not allow three days to pass without hearing the Torah." The Talmud (ibid.) finds an allusion to this enactment in the Torah's narrative earlier in the Book of Shemot, where we read that shortly after Benei Yisrael cross the sea, "They walked three days in the wilderness and found no water" (Shemot 15:22). The Rabbis suggested that "water" often serves as a metaphoric reference to Torah study, which, like water, is a basic necessity for survival. We are thus told here that Benei Yisrael traveled for three days without taking the time to engage in Torah study. Moshe responded to this unfortunate situation by scheduling regular Torah readings every Monday, Thursday and Shabbat, so that three days would never pass without at least some direct exposure to Torah. According to this description of the obligation, the Shabbat Torah reading bears no intrinsic relevance to Shabbat itself; it is rather part of the general Torah reading system, arranged in a fashion that requires the reading of the Torah at least once within every three-day period. In the very next paragraph, however, Maimonides appears to present the Shabbat Torah reading from a different angle. He presents in this paragraph a comprehensive list of all the days on which Halakha requires a community to conduct a public Torah reading: "These are the days on which the Torah is publicly read: Shabbat, festivals, Rosh Chodesh [the first of the month], fasts, Chanukah, Purim, and every week on Monday and Thursday." The sequence by which Maimonides arranges this list immediately catches our attention. Whereas in the previous paragraph he explicitly associated the Shabbat Torah reading with the reading held every Monday and Thursday, in this passage he seems to distinguish between the two. Shabbat is listed first, introducing the list of special occasions mandating the reading of the Torah, while the weekday readings on Monday and Thursday are reserved for the very end of the list. Rabbi Soloveitchik inferred from this arrangement that the Shabbat reading possesses an additional dimension, resembling the Torah reading on festivals, beyond that which it shares with the weekday reading. On festivals, Halakha requires Torah reading as part of the day's observance, rather than as part of a general system intended to ensure regular exposure to Torah reading. By associating the Torah reading obligation on Shabbat with that required on the festivals, Maimonides implicitly establishes that Shabbat requires Torah reading intrinsically, by virtue of the very occasion of Shabbat, beyond the requirement to read the Torah once in three days. Maimonides' source for this dimension of the Shabbat reading is, presumably, a passage in the Jerusalem Talmud. Commenting on the verse in the Book of Vayikra (23:44), "Moshe declared to the Israelites the festivals of the Lord," the Jerusalem Talmud explains that Moshe here introduced the obligation to read the Torah on the festivals. Significantly, it includes Shabbat in this obligation: "Moshe instituted for Israel that they read in the Torah on Shabbat, festivals, Rosh Chodesh and Chol Ha-mo'ed." If Rabbi Soloveitchik's inference is correct, then Maimonides acknowledged two simultaneous, yet distinct, bases for the obligation of Torah reading on Shabbat. The first is Moshe's enactment requiring Torah reading on Shabbat to prevent the passage of three days without hearing words of Torah. But in addition, the occasion of Shabbat itself requires Torah 2 reading, much as other special occasions on the calendar, such as Sukkot, Pesach and Purim, entail a Torah reading obligation. At first glance, however, it seems difficult to explain why the day of Shabbat would itself generate such an obligation. The festivals commemorate significant historical events; naturally, then, our observance of these occasions includes a public reading of the sections in the Torah dealing with the given event. Thus, for example, on Pesach we read the narrative of the Exodus, and on Shavuot we read the story of the Revelation at Sinai. On Chanukah and Purim, which commemorate events that transpired well after the period of the Chumash, we read selections that somehow connect to the day's theme. Shabbat, however, is generally not associated with a specific event in Biblical history. And although, indeed, the Torah speaks of Shabbat observance as intended to commemorate the earth's creation (Shemot 20:11) or the Exodus (Devarim 5:15), neither of these are necessarily included in the weekly Shabbat reading. In what sense, then, does the essence of Shabbat generate an obligation to read the Torah? The Underlying Purpose of Shabbat Observance Instinctively, we might explain that the very purpose – or perhaps among the purposes – of Shabbat observance is Torah study. One possible early source for such a theory is the Midrashic work, "Eliyahu Rabba" (1): The Almighty said to Israel as follows: My children! Have I not written in My Torah, 'This Book of the Torah shall not leave your mouth' (Yehoshua 1:8)? Even though you perform work all six days, Shabbat shall be designated entirely for Torah. On this basis, they [the Rabbis] said: A person must arise early and study on Shabbat, and go to the synagogue and study hall, read Torah and study the prophets and [only] then go home and eat and drink. This passage describes Shabbat as the means by which a Jew can fulfill – on some level – the mandate, "This Book of the Torah shall not leave your mouth." If the pressures of the workweek allow little time for engagement in Torah study, Shabbat affords one this very opportunity.
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